Make Oil, Not Carbon

If you had to describe the perfect nightmare for solar- and wind-power enthusiasts, a fossil-fuel-burning power plant that cuts its carbon emissions and helps produce more oil would probably be it.

And a new partnership announced Tuesday promises exactly that. General Electric is marrying its natural gas-fired turbines with carbon-capture technology provided by Norway’s Sargas. They claim this can generate electricity with relatively high 50% efficiency even after capturing and compressing the carbon-dioxide emission.